Bearing for display racks



Aug. 28, 1951 H. BEST 2,565,645

' BEARING FOR DISPLAY RACKS Original Filed Jan. 51, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENIUR. @L LeonIiBesl W BY fliiorneys Aug. 28, 1951 H. BEST 2,565,645

BEARING FOR DISPLAY RACKS Original Filed Jan. 31, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Leon, HBesi BY J4Ziornqys Aug. 28, 1951 L. H. BEST 2,565,645

BEARING FOR DISPLAY RACKS Original Filed Jan. 31, 1946 a Sheets-Sheet :5

INVENTOR. Leon .Besf

flitOPILGgS Aug. 28, I951 L. H. BEST 2,565,645

- BEARING FOR DISPLAY RACKS Original Filed Jan. 31, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 JNVENTOR. Leon H. Besi BY 91 WW km W M fliiopneys Aug. 28, 1951 v L, BEST I 2,565,645

BEARING FOR DISPLAY RACKS Original Filed Jan. 31, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 I fi 27w F1 3 1 jd/ J? 13 II/ I I 1 m I I V g I I g l I g .74 it orne ys L. H. BEST BEARING FOR DISPLAY RACKS 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOIL. Leon fLBesi Z/m M mw .z iiorne ys Aug. 28, 1951 Original Filed Jan. 51, 1946 Patented Aug. 28, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BEARING FOR DISPLAY RACKS Leon H. Best, Galva, 111., assignor to John H. Best & Sons, Inc., Galva, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original application January 31, 1946, Serial No.

644,571. Divided and this application December 15', 1950, Serial No. 200,905

4 Claims. 1 This application ista division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 6%,571, filed January 31, 1 946.

Thisv invention relates to animproved bearing for display racks andthelike, that are usedfor displayingand handling: heavy rolls of sheet material such. as broadloom carpet, linoleum, canvas, and the. like.

In displaying material. of the: type mentioned, it-is necessary to provide. strong, rigid supports which permit convenient rollingand unrolling. In display racks of the type for which my in vention isparticularly. adapted, large bearing units capable'of receiving a shaft which may be two inches or. larger in diameter carrying loads of several hundredpounds are required. Such' bearing units. must be relatively inexpensive and yet must give excellent performance Also to meet ment, bearing; support-units must be: constructed so that they mayv be mountedinmanypositions. For the better. types ot displayequipment, a hearing. unit is. needed which can be substantially hiddenfrom view.

It is an object of my invention to provide simple eifective bearing supporting. elements.

which: may be mounted in various positions depending upon the. type of display devices with which. they are to be. used. It. is av further ob- 1 ject to provide simple efiicient bearing elements.

which may be installed. inbearing supports for easy maintenance andreplacement. Further objects of my. invention are to provide efiicient. inconspicuous bearing meanswhich may bemounted so as not. to. detract from the appearance of the display equipment and yet be readily accessible and convenient for. use.

Additional objects. of my invention are to provide collapsible bearingelements which may be readily insertedor removedfrom thebearing supporting means and. which. will. remain in place against accidental or. unintentional displacement without any fastening. orsecuring. beingrequired.

Other and further objects of the present in.- vention will be apparent. from the following description and. claims. and. are illustrated in: the

accompanying. drawings which,.by way. of illus tration,. show preferred embodiments of. the in.- vention and. the principles thereof and. what I now consider to be the best. mode in. which I have contemplated applying these. principles other. embodiments of. the invention embodying the. same or. equivalent principles may be used and structural. changes may be made as. desired from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a display rack of a type in which the bearing means of my invention maybe used;

Fig. 2 is a detail view on a larger scale of certain elements shown in Fig. 1, some. parts being, in section and partsbeing broken away to show certain details of my improved bearing means;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken on line 3-3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detailsectionalview 0n. a stilllarger scale showing certain details of construction of my bearing means andtaken along the'line. d.4, Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of. my improved bearing element, per. se;

Fig. 6 is an end view of. the. bearing element shown in Fig. 8;

Fig- '7 is. a plan view of. thesame. bearing element;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail View similar to the. left-hand. part of. Fig. 4 showing additional construction details of a locking mechanism;

Fig. 9 is-a vertical section on line 9-9, Fig. 8, showingdetails. of construction of certain ele ments of. the locking means;

bearing and locking means;.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of another type a of display rack incorporating. a modified form of my invention;

, Fig. 12 is anenlargedsectional view showing in detail one of the brackets illustrated in Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is an end elevation of the bearing unit shown in Fig.12, certain. parts being brokenv away and shown in section to illustrate details of con.- struction;

Fig. 14. is. a view generally similar to. Fig. 13 showing a modified form. of. bearing supporting means;

Fig.'15v is a sectional viewtakenon the line l5-l5 of. Fig. 14;.

Fig. 16 is a perspective View of still another form of displayraok incorporating another modifiedform of my invention;

Fig. 17 is a detail sectional view'of one of the bearing units shown in Fig. 16;

Fig. l8is a sectional view taken. on the line Iii-43, Fig. 17; and

Fig. 19 is a View similar to Fig. 1'7 showing the bearing unit tilted at an angle to illustrate how it may be mounted in various positions.

Taken generally, the drawings show a bearing support member or housing which is adapted to be mounted in various Ways on various types of supports and to receive in appropriate bearing position a roller bearing assembly which serves to reduce friction under heavy loads and yet which is simple in operation and assembly. Thus, in Fig. l, a display rack is shown which may comprise a frame with end members II, I2, a top member I3 and a bottom member I4. The rolls of sheet material, broadloom rugs or linoleum, for example, may be mounted upon hollow supporting shafts shown at I5, I6, and I1. These shafts which are commonly lengths of ordinary pipe or similar material are adapted to have their ends mounted in bearing members to sup port them and to permit free and relatively frictionless rotation in rolling or unrolling operations.

The end frame member II is provided with openings I8, I9 and 2| and the other end frame member I2 is provided with openings 22', 23, and 24'. The inner portions of these openings are large enough to receive the ends of the tubular supporting shafts I5, I and II. The outer portions of the openings are smaller so as to conceal the bearing assemblies and yet afford access to rotating and locking means by the insertion of the shank 23 of a crank member 24. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the crank member 24 may be provided with two handles 25, 25.

Referring now to Fig. 2, bearing brackets or mounting means 21, 28 which are identical are mounted in the end members II and I2. As shown in Fig. 3, the end members II and I2 may comprise two spaced walls 28' and 25 to which bearing brackets 21 may be fastened, for example, to the inner wall 29 by means of bolts 30.

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged section of a complete shaft assembly including the two end bearing assemblies and locking means. As illustrated in this figure, the bearing housing or bracket 2! is a hollow hub-like structure which may be of cast iron provided with lugs 3I through which the bolts 30 are passed to secure the housing to the frame. The inner wall 32 of the housing 21 is provided with a large opening 33, a similar opening 34 being provided in the wall member 29 to receive the end of a supporting tube or shaft I5. Outwardly of the wall 32, the circumferential wall of the housing is expanded to form an annular recess 35 which is adapted to receive a roller bearing assembly 36.

The roller bearing assembly 35, as shown in detail in Figs. 5, 6 and '7, comprises a pair of arcuate side plates 3'! and 38 which are connected together near one end of each by means of a pin 39 which mounts a bearing roller 4|. Another pair of arcuate plates 42 and 43, generally similar to the plates 31 and 38, are connected together in a similar fashion by means of a pin 44 mounting a bearing roller 45. At their other ends plates 31, 38, and plates 42, 43 are hinged together as shown in Fig. 5 by means of a pin 46. The ends of plates 42 and 43 are offset inwardly to fit between the ends of plates 31 and 38. A spacing sleeve 49 is mounted on the hinge pin 46 between the offset ends 41 and 48 to keep the plates 42 and 43 properly spaced and in contact with the outer plates 31 and 38.

The annular recess 35 in the bearing bracket 3! is of the proper width and depth to receive the hinged bearing assembly 36 and to permit the anti-friction rollers M and 45 to project above surrounding surfaces so as to support the ends of the tubular shaft I5. In the expanded position shown in full lines in Fig. 5, the bearing assembly is to long to be inserted in the annular recess provided in the bracket or housing 21. The hinge construction permits folding the two sections to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 5 to a permit ready insertion into bearing position. After the bearing is inserted, the ends are returned to full line position where they are ready to support the shaft I5 with its load.

The construction described permits ready insertion and removal of the bearing assembly and at the same time prevents accidental displacement of the bearings from their proper positions upon insertion or removal of the supporting shaft I5.

The bearing housings and the roller bearing assemblies just described are identical in construction for both ends of the tubular shaft. Outwardly of the annular recess 35 the bearing housings 21 are provided with a recess 53 which is generally of cylindrical form to afford limited axial movement of the shaft I5 to facilitate its insertion or removal. As shown in Fig. 4, both ends of the tubular shaft are provided with flanges 5| and 5la to prevent undesired longitudinal displacement out of the bearing position.

One end of the hollow supporting shaft I5 is provided with an inserted member which, in addition to the projecting flange 5| mentioned above, includes a housing 54, integral with the flange part, containing certain automatic locking mechanism now to be described. The housing 54 is of hollow cylindrical form having two longitudinal grooves 56 in its outer surface which extend inwardly from the flanges 5| for a distance. The grooves 56 terminate in sloping surfaces 51 against which set screws 58 in the tubular shaft may set to lock the tube to the housing.

Through the greater part of its length, the housing 54 is provided with a cylindrical recess 59 terminating in an end wall BI. A sliding plunger 52 is provided with an annular flange 53 which is adapted to limit axial movement of the plunger by abutment against the end wall 6!. A stud 64 is fixed to a cap member 55 which is secured by screws 55 to the housing assembly, as shown in Fig. 9. A compressed spring 6! surrounds the fixed stud 54 and a similar part on the plunger 62 to urge the sliding member outwardly or to the left, as shown in Figs. 4 and 8. Movement to the left is, of course, limited by contact between the annular flange 63 and the wall 6|.

To the left of the flange I53, as shown in Figs.

4 and 8, the sliding plunger 52 carries a projecting stud 62a which is provided with an annular groove 6227. A sleeve 58 is secured to the stud 62a by indenting portions thereof into the annular grooves 625. The sleeve 68 is of hollow square cross section. When it is projected outwardly or to the left, Fig. 8, the sleeve 68 engages a square hole 69 provided in the outer wall of the housing 21. This engagement locks the sleeve, the housing 54 and the tubular shaft I5 against rotation. Since the sleeve 55.! has an inner cross section which is square, it receives the square shank portion II of the crank stud 23 mentioned above. Hence, when the crank 24 is forced inwardly against the tension of the spring I 6'! the square sleeve 68 is removed from looking engagement with the hole'69 in thehousing 21.

7 be incorporated. I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth above, but I desire to avail myself of all such changes and alterations as may follow within the purview of the following claims:

I claim:

1. A roller bearing assembly comprising a pair '0! straight side plates carrying one anti-friction bearing roller therebetween, a pair of offset side plates carrying another anti-friction roller therebetween, a pin connecting said pairs of plates to form a hinged assembly, and a spacer carried by said pin to hold said plates in properly spaced relationships.

' 2. A bearing unit for supporting a shaft carrying a heavy roll of sheet material in display racks and the like, comprising a bearing housing adapted to be mounted in various angular positions provided with a restricted opening adapted to receive a portion of the shaft to be supported, a recessed channel of arcuate form in longitudinal cross section in said housing for an anti-friction bearing assembly, a hinged antifriction bearing assembly in said channel adapted to be collapsed for insertion and. removal through said restricted opening and having arcuate bearing surfaces which conform with the arcuate form of said channel when said assembly is in its extended relation, said channel being of greater circumferential length than said hearing assembly to permit adjustable positioning of said assembly as required by the angular position at which said housing is mounted.

3. In a display rack for relatively heavy flexible sheet material such as rugs or linoleum, an elongated shaft upon which such a sheet of material may be wound, aligned bearing brackets into which opposite ends of said shaft respectively extend, said brackets having side walls defining an arcuate channel in each bracket concentrio with the axis upon which said shaft is to be supported, a bearing assembly comprising two pairs of arcuate links pivoted together at their adjacent ends and having bearing rollers at their remote ends, said pairs of links being rested and confined in an operating position within said channel and having said rollers mounted thereon in such a relation that when said links are in said operating position said rollers extend beyond the edges of said side walls to thereby afford bearings for said shaft or the like rested over said side walls, and flanges on the ends of said shaft engaging the remote end edges of said rollers tohold said shaft against axial displacement.

4. In a shaftsupporting bearing unit for use in display racks for rugs, linoleum and the like, a bearing bracket afiording an arcuate wall, spaced side walls along opposite edges of said arcuate wall, and end walls connecting said side walls and said arcuate wall at the ends thereof to afford an arcuate bearing channel defined by said walls, a bearing assembly comprising two pairs of arcuate links pivoted together at their adjacent ends and having bearing rollers at their remote ends, said pairs of links being rested and confined in an operating position within said channel and having said rollers mounted thereon in such a relation that when said links are in said operating, position said rollers extend beyond the edges of said side Walls to thereby afiord bearings for a shaft or the like rested over said side walls, and lugs on one of said walls for securing said bracket in position on a support.

LEON H. BEST.

No references cited. 

